Blowing-engine valve



(No Model.)

F. W. GORDON.

BLOWING ENGINE VALVE.

No. 325,074. Patented Aug.25,1885.

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PATENT OEEICEo FRED. W GORDON, OF PITTSBURG,

ASSIGNOR TO GORDON, STROBEL &

LAUREAU, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLOWING-ENGINE VALVE.

.TSPECFIGATEON forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,074, dated August25, 1885.

(No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED. W. GORDON, of Pittsburg, Allegheny county,Pennsylvania, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements inAir-Valves for Blowing-Engines, of which the following is aspecification. Thisinvention pertains to the air-valves for that classof blowing-engines which are used for delivering the blast toblast-furnaces and I3 thelike. `Such enginesgenerallyhavetheirairvalvesarranged in groups upon the heads of the blowing-cylinder- The cylindersare gen erally vertical, and the suction-valves are disposed upon theinterior surface or" the cylinder-heads. It follows that thesuction-valves at the upper end ofthe ai r-cylinder open downward, whilethe suction-valves of the lower end open upward. rPhe air-cylinders ofthe blowingengines are often very large, and all 2o the cylinder-headattachments are large and cumbersome. The air -valves require occasionalattention, and the problem has been to secure a durable air-valve soarranged as to permit its inspection, repair, or renewal in the shortestpossibletime. Blast-furnaeesrun continually night andday, and it is notpraetical to have their blowing-.engines remain off duty for anyconsiderable length of time while their air-valves are being attendedto.

My invention will be readily understood from the following description,taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurelis a vertical section of an air-valve illustrating my invention, thesame being represented in connection with a seatholding plate, which maybe taken as representing the lower cylinder-head of a blowing-engine;Fig. 2, a plan of the same with portions broken 4o away in order to moreclearly exhibit the structure, and Figs. 3 and 4 vertical sectionsillustrating modifications in the plan of connecting the valve-seat toits supporting-plate.

In the drawings, A indicates a valve-supporting plate, which may be thecylinder-head of the blowing-engine or valvefholding plates secured overopenings in the cylinder-head;

B, grated circular disk-like seats disposed in appropriate openings inthe plate and forming, substantially, a separable seat portion of suchplate; C, a cage whose legs rest upon the plate around the openingcontaining the sea-t, the legs being formed on a spider which isdisposed parallel to the face ofthe seat; D, a bolt passing from thespider through the seat; E, a disk ofleather or other soft materialresting upon the seat and forming the valve proper; F, the tapering fitof the seatwithin the opening of the seat-holding plate; G, Fig. 3,amodiiication of the manner in which the seat engages the plate, thesame consisting in the seat being screwed into the plate; H, Fig. 4i,another modification ofthe same, in which the seat is provided with aperipheral rabbet engaging in a counterbore ofthe plate against packingJ.

Fig. l represents the disposition of a suction-valve upon the lower endof the cylinder; and it will be readily understood that the valves atthe upper end of the cylinder will 7g present their cages downward, aswill be readily understood it' Fig. l be turned upside down for thepurpose of viewing. It will thus be understood that the valves and thecages are within the cylinder. Access can only be had 7 5 totheaircylinder by the removal of the bulky cylinder-head, and hence itis very desirable that the valves should be accessible from the outsideof the cylinder-heads. By removing the nut upon the bolt the seat may beremoved outwardly from the plate, the valve following and the cageremaining in its normal position. New valves or new seats may thus beinserted without the necessity for entering the cylinder or removing thevalveholding plates. In the 8 5 ease of the valves at the lower end ofthe cylinder, as illustrated in Fig. 2, it is evident that the cage andits holdingboltwill maintain their normal position upon the plate afterthe nut and seat are removed, gravity holding the 9o cage and bolt innormal position; but, in the case of the valves at the upper end oi' theair cylinder, it is evident that the cage and bolt would tend to falldown into the cylinder. Such serious occurrence is avoided, whenmanipulating the upper valves, by moving the piston of theblowing-engine to the upper end of its stroke, so that the cages andbolts, while they may leave the plate, cannot drop more than a quarterof an inch or so, in which ease Ioo ing required, especially if theperiphery of the valve be allowed to project slightly over thejoint-crack at the periphery of the seat. It will be noticed that theseat is susceptible of being removed from that side of the plateYopposite the side on which the cage seats, and that the valve can beremoved from the same side of the plate that the seat is removed from,and that the bolt which holds the seat also serves in securing the cage.

The valve,being of soft material and of large size, cannotbe properlyguided upon a central bolt, and no proper guiding fit can be durablysecured at that point. The peripheral guiding is therefore provided bymeans of the legs of the cage. These valves seat accurately, promptly,and tightly, and are extremely durable. The cage forms at once the guidefor the periphery of the valve, the stop for the lifting movement of thevalve, and the clamping element by which the seat is secured in place.These valves are to be arranged in groups upon the cylinder-head of theblowing-engine, and they enable the piston of the engine to operate veryclosely to the seat-snrface,whereby dead-space is avoided.

I know of' no other valve device employing a cage possessing theseproperties. Where cages have been employed, they have been secured tothe plate byperipheral bolts, which are expensive and inaccessible forblowingvalves, or by abutments against them, which interfere with theproper approach of the piston of the blowing-engine, or by being screwedinto the plates. The cages as I arrange them stand upon the flat surfaceof the plate, and

interfere to the least possible degree with the 4 5 outow of air fromthe valve-opening. The arrangement also permits of exceedingly close andcompact grouping of the cages upon the plate.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a blowing-engine valve, a valve-holdingplate provided with an opening for a valveseat, a disk-like seatdisposed within such opening and removable from the outside of theplate, a disk-like Valve engaging the face of the seat, a spider-likecage with its legs resty ing upon the side of the plate opposite to theside from which the seat is inserted,and a bolt passing through the cageand seat and serving-` to hold the seat in the opening of the plate andthe cage against the face of the plate, combined substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. In a blowing-engine valve', a plate provided with a gratedvalve-seat, a spider-like cage with its legs resting upon said platearound said seat, a bolt passing through the cage and seat, and adisk-like valve engaging the face of the ,said seat,and engaging withits periphery the interior surface of the legs of the cage, and adaptedto play between the roof of the cage and the seat, combinedsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a blowing-engine valve, aplate having

